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Yemen: Basic Needs Planning is Necessary for Post-War Region

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As a result of Saudi-led
bombing raids, Yemen's underdeveloped
socio-economic infrastructure has been largely
destroyed. The UN-mediated peace negotiations
led by Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed of Mauritania,
who had been earlier the UN humanitarian
coordinator for Yemen, have been broken off
and most probably will not meet again in the
near future.

The most probable
next steps will be a division of the country
into two with several, largely autonomous
areas within both. The country's present form
dates from 1990 when south Yemen (Aden) was
more or less integrated into the north, but
the country remains highly fractured along
tribal, sectarian and ideological lines with
the tribal structures being the most
important. In the best of worlds, one could
envisage a federal Yemen with the rule of law.
More realistically, we could hope that these
largely autonomous tribal areas do not fight
against each other actively. On a short-term
basis, we can hope that there will be minimum
cooperation among the factions to allow
necessary food imports and medical supplies
linked to a cease-fire on Saudi air raids.

There is a
serious need first for post-war planning to be
followed by international aid for development.
“Reconstruction” would be the wrong term since
there was little that had been “constructed.”
Rather, we need to look to a post-war
socio-economic construction developed on a
basic needs approach.

The Basic Needs
Approach to Development with its emphasis on
people as central to the development process
is embodied in the June 1976 World Employment
Conference Declaration of Principles and
Program of action. (1) The Declaration
underlines the importance of the individual
and the central role of the family and
household as the basic unit around which to
work for development.

Although the
Basic Needs Approach builds on the development
thinking of the United Nations and national
governments of the 1950s and 1960s such as
rural development, urban poverty alleviation,
employment creation through small-scale
industries, the Declaration of Principles is a
major shift in development strategies with its
focus on the family with the objective of
providing the opportunities for the full
physical, mental, and social development of
the human personality. The Program of Action
defines a two-part approach: “First, Basic
Needs includes certain minimum requirements of
a family for private consumption: adequate
food, shelter and clothing, as well as certain
household equipment and furniture. Second,
Basic Needs includes essential services
provided by and for the community at large,
such as safe drinking water, sanitation,
public transport, health, education and
cultural facilities.”

The Program added
a basic element to the actions: “A Basic
Needs-oriented policy implies the
participation of the people in making the
decisions which affect them through
organizations of their own choice.”

The Basic Needs
Approach concentrates on the nature of what is
provided rather than on income − income having
often been used as the criteria for drawing a
'poverty line.' The Basic Needs Approach is
concerned not only with the underemployed but
also with the unemployable: the aged, the
sick, the disabled, orphaned children and
others. Such groups have often been neglected
by the incomes and productivity approach to
poverty alleviation and employment creation.

For Yemen, which
is largely structured on the basis of clan-
extended family institutions, the Basic Needs
Approach is most appropriate. In practice,
there are few institutions or associations
beyond the clan level, although tribal and
religious identities are often mentioned.
Tribes and religious identity are “shorthand”
terms as it is impossible to mention the
multitude of clans. However, a family welfare
– meeting basic needs is the most appropriate
strategy on which to base post-war planning.
Although the fighting continues sporadically
and agreement on a possible “unity government”
seems far away, Basic Needs Planning must
start now.

Rene Wadlow,
President and a Representative to the UN,
Geneva, Association of World
Citizens

Note

1) See the
Director General's Report and the Declaration
in the International Labour Office.
Employment, Growth and Basic Needs: A One
World Problem (New York: Praeger Publishers,
1977, 224pp.)

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